Understanding The EIN Verification Lookup

There are numerous reasons as to why you may need to look for a particular EIN (Employee Identification Number). The EIN verification lookup used to be highly complex but the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) had observed the complexities, which is why they have launched a brand new search tool, which is available online. This tool is the Exempt Organizations Select Check. The goal of this tool is to make it easier for people to find the information that they need about organizations, looking up their filings and federal tax status. This is particularly important for those looking for information on tax-exempt organizations.

What Information Can Be Obtained?

The IRS has made a section on their website available that people can navigate to. From there, they can choose a tax-exempt organization and find out:

1. Whether the organization is allowed to receive charitable contributions that are tax deductible. This is part of Publication 78. This information is important to people, as it highlights whether or not they can deduct any contributions that they have made.
2. Whether the organization has automatically had its federal tax exemption revoked because they did not file a Form 990-series return. This can legally happen under the Auto-Revocation List when there has been no reply to notices for three consecutive years.
3. Whether the organization filled their annual Form 990-N electronic notice, also known as the e-Postcard. This has to be done by those organizations who have lower than $50,000 annual gross receipts, although they can also choose to complete Form 990-EZ or the full Form 990.

Additional Search Facilities from the EO Select Check:

Importantly, the new EO Select Check has also improved a variety of other search facilities. For instance, it is now possible to perform an EIN verification lookup that shows whether they are allowed to receive contributions that are deductible. Additionally, the information is now updated every month, instead of every quarter. It is also possible to perform an EIN verification lookup to find organizations that are no longer tax exempt. These can also be found by using revocation posting dates, exemption types, countries, ZIP codes, states, cities, and names. This is a huge improvement compared to what the facility was like first, which only allowed people to search by state. This could result in huge lists of options that would take days to truly look through.

Furthermore, the new EO Select Check provides users with a pop-up help text. Through this, users are able to see what their results actually mean, particularly in line with auto-revocation. The help text will show them what the auto-revocation means, and the difference between the posting date of a revocation and the actual revocation.

Last but not least, the new IRS EO Select Check is populated with lots of important tips. These tips are designed to show people how to best use the tool and how it can benefit them in terms of finding the information that they need. As always, however, people are encouraged to contact the IRS should they have further questions, since the information does have some complexities.